The present invention relates to internet-based communications systems and, more particularly, to an instant messaging system that provides the user with information and control over handling of message for multiple conversations.
Instant messaging has become a powerful and popular communication tool that is used by individuals and businesses alike as an effective means to transfer and relay information to other individuals and/or to customers. Instant messaging permits group or two-party conversations to occur in a reasonable approximation of real time. Instant messaging system currently available are not dependent upon the use of any particular hardware, such that parties can communicate through instant messaging without regard for the particular types of devices or computer hardware that each party is using.
Instant messaging systems permit parties to engage in multiple conversations contemporaneously. It is not unusual for one person to be engaged in five or more separate conversations with different individuals at the same time. Maintaining control over multiple conversations is difficult, however, as it is easy to forget details about a particular conversant or about the history of the conversation to the current point in time. Often, too, one or more conversations may become more important than others, but with current instant messaging systems, messages arrive at a user's desktop in the order in which they are delivered, such that several or many messages from “less important” conversants may arrive before a message from the desired conversant. Keeping track of the message thread with particular individuals may be difficult and may cause messages to be missed or ignored inadvertently.